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Climbing to God

Again, it’s
back to the basics.I know I have done
this quite a bit.But it is always a
good thing occasionally to go back to the basics.I like reading a range of material and I am
always amazed how easy it is to find spiritual connections and lessons in a
huge number of venues.It is true, I
believe, to find the spiritual ebbing through almost all of our daily
life.But there are always good reasons to
go back to the basics.

Back to the
basics for me means that I engage the daily lectionary that I use.Of course, most days I don’t use that to
comment on life.But it is always
present.It is the substratum of life
for me.It is part of the day’s
pulsating presence.I know it is always
there, but I also know that sometimes I pay no attention.And then I wonder why life seems a bit
shallow or maybe a little more aimless.God is always present and ready to speak to me, if I will but listen.

I know God
does not speak in a normal human way.I
don’t hear voices in my ears.I don’t
get visible signs in the world as I walk around in it.I have no billboard divine
announcements.But God does speak.I hear that voice in scripture.I discern that divine voice in the words of
God’s saints.And frequently God speaks
to me with the voice of my friends and acquaintances, but those are the most
difficult to believe that God is actually using them for me!

For example,
this morning I turned to the morning readings from my lectionary---the daily
prayers and readings from my Benedictine monk friends.The heart of the morning lectionary reading
was from Psalm 84.It was a Psalm I had
not remembered reading, but I am sure I have done it a few times. I love the way the Psalm begins: “How
delightful is your dwelling-place, Lord of Hosts.”

Then a little
later in the Psalm comes some great spiritual truth for me.The Psalmist assures us, “Blessed
the man whose help comes from you,who has set his heart on climbing to you.”When I am devotionally attentive to this kind
of material, I try to move through it slowly and let the truth impact me and to
absorb it.If I stay with this sentence,
I realize it affirms that God helps us.I am convinced this is true for all of us.However, it is also true that this help may
not always be very evident or visible.Some of us would have a difficult time pointing to something and saying,
“Yep, that’s God’s help.”And so, it is
easy to assume God helps others, but not me!

Maybe we need the other half of that verse to make it
full.God helps us, but we also have to
set our heart on climbing to God.That
idea resonates with me, although there are times I confess I would just like
God to help me and I’ll forget the climbing part!Give me grace, O Lord, and don’t expect any
effort from me!Climbing?That sounds like hard work!

Let’s pursue the climbing theme to see how the Psalmist
develops it.The Psalmist tells us
spiritual climbers “pass through the valley of thirstand make a spring there…”The valley of thirst is a powerful
image.On the surface it sounds
uninviting and foreboding.Who wants
voluntarily to pass through a valley of thirst?Can’t God simply order a helicopter
and fly us directly to the Presence of the Divine?I think the answer is obvious. Spiritual
climbing---the religious journey---takes human effort and the gift of Divine
grace.

Even though we go through the valley of thirst, there will
be a spring made there.I understand the
spring to be symbolic of that grace God provides.It takes some faith to believe that God will
provide the grace of water if we head into the valley of thirst.But if we have no faith, if we fail to go,
we’ll never know that Presence of Divinity Itself.

I would like to nab one more line from the Psalmist.If we can undergo that spiritual climb, the
Psalmist tells us that we “will go from strength to strength…”That is encouraging and reassuring.“Trust me,” I hear God telling us.Trust is simply another word for
“faith.”Paradoxically, if you begin the
work and effort of spiritual climbing, we will go from strength to
strength.Much of faith is paradoxical.I think of the biblical assurance that in
weakness comes strength.

It is all worth it.We have a goal.The Psalmist puts
it in biblical, theological terms.The
Psalmists blesses us with the promise: “they will see the God of gods, in Zion.”You can’t see God unless you begin to
climb.Along the way, you will find
springs of living water.And instead of
fatiguing, you will go from strength to strength.And finally, you will “see.”

We may literally see God.But surely, metaphorically we will “see.”We will understand life.We will grasp meaning and purpose.We will know that our life is good, is
worthwhile, and has dignity.We will
know that we are treasures in earthen vessels.

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